Interviewed by Zoe Brigley
“I think what is so captivating about the moon to poets is that it’s this gleaming beacon in the sky. What do we do when we think deeply? Oftentimes people look to the sky for answers, especially clear night skies. It’s a process that’s deeply emotional and yet scientific… We as human beings are a mixture of science and you could also argue, a myth.“
Phases
The full moon has a large effect on the Earth’s
atmosphere, and she wanted to own it.
Lunar influence perturbs sleep,
its gravitational pull moves tides.
Humans are made of 60 percent water,
she caressed my waist
the brain is 70 percent
her fingers traced my lips.
How long until they get taken over?
Astrology says the pink supermoon
is on April 26, but we aren’t going to last
until then.
Overall, this poem started by me taking photos of the sky one night while reflecting on the inevitable end of a romantic relationship I had that never really got off the ground. By the time it was going to be the next full moon, I predicted that the relationship would probably end. Like the tide, feelings come in very high highs and sometimes move into ultimate lows. I’m a very spiritual person who is interested in charting the phases of the moon. When I kept track, I was interested in how my emotions would change during the different phases of life and wanted to compare them to the phases of the moon. I realized that my feelings were sometimes fluctuating as constant as how the moon changes every day. I was reflecting a lot about my personal relationships and how people can change quickly or how things unfold in ways that you don’t expect.
I think what is so captivating about the moon to poets is that it’s this gleaming beacon in the sky. What do we do when we think deeply? Oftentimes people look to the sky for answers, especially clear night skies. It’s a process that’s deeply emotional and yet scientific — the moon has properties that change the world, such as the tides. I wanted to draw parallels to the tide and water to the ever-changing moods and feelings in romantic relationships. We as human beings are a mixture of science and you could also argue, a myth. We are made of water and we can change drastically over the course of the months. Our emotions can parallel mythological stories, hence why they’ve been retold over the years, relating to the modern day world. Think of, for instance, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, a singer, musician, and poet, carrying a lyre on his shoulder, had recently married Eurydice, but on the day of their wedding, ‘in the very bloom of her life’, she was bitten by a viper and died of its venom. Distraught with grief, Orpheus descended into the underworld determined to restore her to mortality. When he was put to the ultimate test of bringing her back to life, he chose the end of poets to their love story and let Eurydice go, wanting to have the memory of her instead by turning back to look at her as they were ascending to the mortal world. The moon, myths, and its nature are relatable to how some relationships need to be let go and you can move on, despite how you really want to keep holding onto that beacon of love and light despite all reason.